Transporting heavy game the EASY way

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Fine Figure of a Man said:
I have seen guys use ice fishing sleds like this. They work well to move deer when there is snow. The also fit in the back of SUV's
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I use that for calves, kids, and firewood, they're TUFF and I haven't always had snow, still trucking with minor scratches on the bottom and they're SLICK over dry ground
 
JeeperCreeper said:
I hate wheelbarrows on uneven ground.
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Same here. Also many of the places I hunt, those small wheels on wheelbarrows don't work well. I have used two wheel wheelbarrows that work better and even invested in a game cart once. Nowadays I use a homemade game cart I made using two 20" bicycle wheels, Wooden wheel barrow handles, aluminum angle and treated plywood. It tips far enough so the the deer can be rolled easily onto the deck and the large dual wheels roll easily over most ground. Problem is when I need to drag deer outta a swamp. That's when the ol' plastic sled works well. What works the best tho....is calling the two boys to come help.
 
I started quartering deer in the field after hunting out west last year. You do leave some meat behind but coyotes certainly will pick up where you left off.

The other benifit of this method is there is less butchering to do after a long day hunting. It rarely stays cold enough to age deer here so I put the quarters in a cooler for about a week. Way better than going home and hanging a deer when you have work the next morning.
 
A wheelbarrow would be a great idea except for where I hunt. There is a loose sandy hill you have to traverse to get back to the truck. The wheelbarrow wouldn't do very well on that hill. Snow? We got an early snow last year at the end of October while hunting. It put the brakes on seeing any deer in that area all season. We had to hunt a different unit but still managed to fill our tags. It was still a great season.
 
HB said:
I started quartering deer in the field after hunting out west last year. You do leave some meat behind but coyotes certainly will pick up where you left off.

The other benifit of this method is there is less butchering to do after a long day hunting. It rarely stays cold enough to age deer here so I put the quarters in a cooler for about a week. Way better than going home and hanging a deer when you have work the next morning.
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wish we could do this in ny
 
Mr. Hill said:
I tell my buddies that my back is out and they haul it out, lol.
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Mine is. I mean for real, and not just only some trivial slipped disc but my third pelvic vertabra having broken in half and both my tendons detached in a snowmobile accident in mid 90's. I literally had to re-learn to walk.

My buddies' solution? Handing me a bottle of whiskey or vodka to numb my back out. That's what friends are for, right?

(Ok, of course they give me a hand and pull the deer out for me anytime, but they've made a real event of my bad back, as well as a great excuse to move me in the back seat of the truck, plastered, every time I've downed something significant... Welcome to Finland!)
 
Wheelbarrows don't work out West where you have to go hunting after the quarry; especially up and down mountains for several miles. I have used a flat piece of polyethylene sold as some type of deer sled (not like the boat version shown earlier, just a flat piece). It worked great for hauling a 200# pound mulie down off the mountain side and onto the icy dirt road all the way back to the Scout.
 
I,and the boy's will never forget......

Killed a good mature buck one year down in the woods behind the house.My youngest son had his best friend over,they were probably 8 or 9?So,they're watching cartoons or sumthin when I came to get them to help drag this deer back to the house.

So,here it's me.... my old bird dog,and two youngins down in the woods.I tie a length of rope around the rack and get the boy's to pulling.Me and the dog bringing up the rear.I think the dog was even laughing 'cause,we weren't helping one bit.I kept telling the boys,pull...pull.

They both grew up to be VERY accomplished hunters and sportsman but,they still talk about how heavy that deer was,haha.
 
I have a plastic snow sled that has been pretty helpful in a couple of circumstances. I have an amazing knack for shooting a deer right where it will tumble down to the very bottom of a ravine.

Now that I own a 4X4 tractor with a loader I find my deer dragging chores a bit easier.
 
I shot a small 2yo 6pt southern deer about 8yrs ago about 2 miles into Wayne National Forest and man did that suck! No vehicles allowed, 80 degree hills, foot paths 2 foot wide, rocks, etc. 4.5hrs to get that sucker out of there and after that i said its gotta be 150'' or larger for me to ever do that again. I actually quit going down there because the drag out was too much.
 
Elkins45 said:
I have an amazing knack for shooting a deer right where it will tumble down to the very bottom of a ravine.
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Years ago my dad was helping me drag a large mule deer buck out of the bottom of a ravine. Dad was giving me a mock scolding about shooting a deer where he could fall into a ravine. I responded with, "He didn't fall into the ravine, Dad. He was on the other side of the ravine when I shot him, and he dropped right where he was standing. I'm the one who dragged him down here. How else was I supposed to get him back to the truck?"
It was a lot later, long after we got that deer home and skinned out, before Dad could laugh about having to help me drag a deer out of a ravine that was so steep we could barely climb out of it ourselves, much less drag a deer out of it.:D
 
RedlegRick said:
Troy's right, the DEC are really strict on making sure the carcass is intact and tagged.
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As a non-American hunter that's something I've learned time and time again watching "Wardens" on Outdoor Channel. I think I'm decently prepared for legalities if I'll ever hunt in the US. However, I don't have a clue when and where it's legal to use a motorized vehicle to fetch your kill from the woods, I'm so used to a blanket ban on all off-road driving and carrying/pulling whatever I've killed that even a couple of hundred yards with an ATV would feel like a luxury. :)
 
hq said:
As a non-American hunter that's something I've learned time and time again watching "Wardens" on Outdoor Channel. I think I'm decently prepared for legalities if I'll ever hunt in the US. However, I don't have a clue when and where it's legal to use a motorized vehicle to fetch your kill from the woods, I'm so used to a blanket ban on all off-road driving and carrying/pulling whatever I've killed that even a couple of hundred yards with an ATV would feel like a luxury. :)
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here in new york u can use a atv any time u just cant shot from any motorized vehicles. some laws here are vary hard to fin out are real or not. like you can not have a loaded gun in the woods before sunrise but all the hunters in the morning have the gun loaded. same for the night its not reinforced here but dont piss of the wrong dec. i still cant ant get a good answer from dec on gutting fish in the water u catch then in some dec say its fine. i have friends that have gotten a ticket for it. then there are the u written roles u can not find in your hand book or there web sight.HQ if ever in the us love to have u over to hunt.
 
troy fairweather said:
here in new york u can use a atv any time u just cant shot from any motorized vehicles. some laws here are vary hard to fin out are real or not. like you can not have a loaded gun in the woods before sunrise but all the hunters in the morning have the gun loaded. same for the night
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It's quite the opposite around here. No vehicles allowed for anything, you'll have to be on foot at all times. Nighttime moonlight hunting is fine as long as you don't use night vision or artificial light (that's why people buy $2k+ 56mm ultra-bright German scopes), anything motorized outside the roads is a big no-no, and that's why this thread piqued my interest. Wheelbarrow might work, especially ones with dual wheels for balance, but the most common way to get a moose or big whitetail buck out of the woods is a flat sled made of plastic and having a bunch of people pull it.

Our last "bad" pull was a close to 2000lb moose downed in the middle of a wooded swamp, 1½ miles from the nearest road. It took 12 guys to pull it and a couple of hours to get it to the road, which was still easier than field dressing it on the spot and carrying the meat. The sled snagged on every ditch and branch on the way.

I'll keep your kind offer in mind give you a holler if I'm on the east coast during hunting season. Our US customers are mainly on the left coast (few of them hunt) and northern midwest (most do but we never have time) so it's been a while since I've spent any time in New York.
 
troy fairweather said:
here in new york u can use a atv any time u just cant shot from any motorized vehicles. .
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Really? Even off trail on state and federal lands? While one can do most anything they want on private land here in Wisconsin using a ATV, most anything with a motor is a no-no if on public land and not on a trail designated for such. One of the most violated rules during the hunting season. So, iffin you're hunting public land and shoot your deer on a designated ATV trail, you're good. If 400 yards from one....you still gotta drag it that 400 yards, or break the law. Motorized bicycles(both gas and electric) are getting very popular for hunters lately. What most folks don't realize is they are considered motorized vehicles and as such are also prohibited, even on those trails designated as mountain and/or Fat-tire bike trails.
 
My first bow kill was the only hard drag I have ever had. It was in LBL recreation area which is now part of the forest service. There is a really nice shooting range there which was off limits for hunting, but seemed every time I went I would see deer. I forget the exact rules on how far I had to go from the edge of the “improved” area before hunting was legal, but I went about 10 ft further than that. It was a rough walk in but nothing my 19 year old legs couldn’t do. Across 3 creeks, short vertical bluffs, and finally to the place I wanted to be...a clearing full of what resembled wild cherry tomatoes. I got a doe that day, a big fat one. So the walk out was tough as I had to go out the same way I came in. I carefully though about my route and tried to avoid creeks. Having scouted the area though I remembered a single piece of trash that I had seen twice. Once near my hunting spot, and once again at the edge of the archery range. It was an ugly old blue golfers hat, and it had been washed down the creek. So I drug that big fat doe down into the creek and started walking the banks letting her float along beside me. Out of the woods at dark, and on to college. Butchered the deer at a friends apartment and put the meat on ice in a big Tupperware tote in the shower when I got to the dorms.

2am must not be the right time to drag in a bloody Tupperware box. Campus police were there within a few minutes. They were impressed.
 
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